Dear Bath Magazine: We’re Flattered You Liked Our Cover

Here’s what we hope you’ll do next.

UPDATE, January 29, 8:15 a.m.: The Bath Magazine has published an apology on its website in which it promises to make a donation to the One Fund.

“The Bath Magazine publisher Steve Miklos would like to offer his sincere apologies to anyone who found the similarity between our image and the Boston Magazine cover in any way upsetting, as clearly we did not wish to cause any offence,” the magazine wrote in an open letter.

The magazine quotes Miklos as saying, “Late in the process of creating our front cover we were made aware of the Boston Magazine cover, and while we were inspired by it, we realize we have made an error of judgment by not fully realising its connotations in the States . . . I am running the Bath Half [marathon] on March 2nd and as well as supporting many of our local charities, the magazine will be making a contribution to the Boston One Fund.”

Last spring, as we tried to figure out how best to honor the resilience of our city in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, we asked runners to lend us the shoes they wore in the race. In turn, their shoes, and the cover we produced, helped us to raise over $125,000 for the One Fund, the charity established here to benefit those affected by the bombing.

You liked the shoes cover so much that you borrowed (others have used less charitable phrases) the concept for your February issue on the half marathon in Bath.

We can’t speak for the dozens of runners who donated their shoes to us for that image. We can’t speak for the runners who are preparing to run this April. But we hope that if you were so bold as to borrow our idea, you will also borrow the spirit of that cover—and make a significant donation to the One Fund in the name of those who were unable to finish the race.